5.4.2018

Jim worked on figuring out the exhaust vent system.  Because these are such different pipes and you can't just cut and glue, it takes a lot of thought and trial and error to figure out a configuration that will work.  He got the elbows on the bottom so that he can figure out what he needs to make it connect to the run coming out of the furnace.

 



He had to pull out the piece in the control room and recut the hole (using the jig he made the other day).  Because you cut the locking tab off the pipe when you cut it to size, you have to use a special lock ring cage to connect two pieces and it needed a bigger opening.

At the same time, he has to figure out how the top will work - he has an elbow on that section to see how he will be able to connect to the pipe going along the outside wall.  You also have to use special brackets to hold the pipe in place.

Back in the control room, he glued the pieces of the double elbow together...

And started the plumbing from the acid neutralizer.

Check out our nicely dressed water softener...Jim put its insulated coat on today.  He was very impressed - it zipped on so it was easy, plus it has storage pockets.  I still think it resembles Darth Vader - very appropriate on this May 4th Star Wars Day.

Jim also found some pieces of steel that he will use to start figuring out stair railings - another checkpoint before we can get occupancy.

In the afternoon, it was back to painting in the master bedroom...

Doing some trim work...

All done!



While Jim was doing some painting, I got the kitchen floor all vacuumed and rid of the plaster dust. 

 

This morning, I went to Home Depot to pick up our order of the rest of the smoke detectors.  These are nice - they have lights that come on in case of an emergency to help you see your way out.  Jim got the first one installed in the second bedroom.

 

 

I also picked up the paint for the bathroom today (Heaven Sent) so that will be on the agenda soon!

High 80/Low 47 - beautiful

5.3.2018

Jim worked in the control room this morning - he got the gas line permanently connected to the back of the furnace now.

 

A long time ago, when we first put together the stack, Jim had thoughts of how a system might go together but none of the particulars.  So this is the way the plumbing came out of the stack...

 

 

 

That's not the way he wants it set up now so he had to do a little surgery - he cut off the PVC pipe as it comes out of the plug....

 

 

He was able to use his heat gun to soften the glue and basically peel out the old piece...

 

 

This is the way he has it set up now - the acid neutralizer will connect to one part of this double elbow.  The other side will just be capped now but it's available in the event Jim ever wants to add a sink down here.

 

Over lunch, Jim had to make a trip to the plumbing supply company to take back the wrong parts they gave him and pick up the new ones.  He also ordered a couple more pieces.

Once he got back, I headed out.  I got to see the finished bathroom ceiling...

Then Jim started doing the trim work on the tall wall.  He had to do that precise trimming standing on the very top of the ladder!  I held the ladder for a bit of stability but still!

 

 Another wall painted!

Jim still had some sanding to do on these walls from plaster splatter when we did the ceiling.  Then he started on the back wall...

Back wall all painted!

While Jim was busy painting, I did some clean up work.  We are going to be thinking about floors very soon (SO exciting!), so I did the first pass with the vacuum in the second bedroom to get all the plaster dust off.

Since it was a warm day, Jim opened up the garage door so I could do some cleaning down there.  This is our mountain of cardboard boxes that have accumulated over the winter from purchases - crazy!  So I broke them all down and loaded up the back of Jim's car so he can take it all for recycling tomorrow.

High 79/Low 60

5.2.2018 - Final electric inspection!

Jim called the electric inspector this morning.  The guy told Jim he had put it on his calendar for Thursday instead of Tuesday.  Oh well.  He told him he was able to come out today about noon.  Of course, I got there early and the guy was already there!  But...the big news is that Jim passed with flying colors.  There wasn't one issue in the entire carriage house!  We got our green final sticker so we're good to go with electric!

This morning before the inspector got there, Jim continued work on the acid neutralizer.  You can see he has the pipe cut and fit onto the drain tube inside the furnace.  This still needs to be glued.

Then he started working on the gas line - crazy!  There's always lots to figure out, especially in the beginning but Jim has a start.  Hard to believe we'll be talking to the propane suppliers soon about getting a tank!  Jim also continued doing some planning work on the vent, figuring out how he's going to do it and what additional parts he may need.

In the afternoon, we decided to do some roof work.  The underlayment on this section of the roof has been on for way too long.  We can't roof it because the half round dormer is planned for this area but we need to get it a little more protected.  It was a gorgeous day and the forecast is for some rain over the next couple days so it was the right time to do it.

Jim first put up a roof jack and planks across the bottom.

He decided that he could put up two more rows of shingles so he started measuring for spacing.

It's been a long time since we did roofing so we had to get out all the tools and reacquaint ourselves with the process!  But then Jim got going...

Two more rows of shingles up!

The plan was to cover the remainder of the roof with the titanium underlayment.  So Jim started rolling it on - not the easiest of tasks working from roof jacks!

Once he got the first strip of underlayment down, he put up more toe boards.

Then he started putting on the next row of underlayment...

One more toe board...

That allowed him to reach the peak.  This is the steepest roof pitch of the whole carriage house - you can see that Jim is practically vertical!

Once it was stapled on, Jim cut the sides and taped them...

All done - nice and protected now!

Switching gears once again, Jim decided to put one more coat of paint on the bathroom ceiling before calling it a day!  This was REALLY hard painting - white on white!  There has always been enough color difference between the plaster, the primer and the ceiling paint where it wasn't too much of an issue but that was not the case with this.

Celebration time tonight after passing our final electric inspection!  Yay!

High 83/Low 61 - beautiful!

5.1.2018

 

I was hoping to be writing today that we passed our final electric inspection.  But, alas, we were stood up!  He was supposed to come early afternoon so Jim spent the morning going over everything and straightening up a bit.  He also put up our fan in the bathroom...

And the thermostat in the woodshop.  First marking the placement....

All wired in...

Since we weren't sure exactly what time the inspector would arrive, it was hard to start a big, messy project like painting.  So we decided to do a few outside tasks.  We first took apart the scaffolding that has been in front of the stairwell.

We wanted to set it up in the rear of the stairwell - Jim needs this to start working on bringing the furnace vents outside.  He first had to flatten the stones out some...

Then we started setting up the scaffolding.

 

 All done!

We worked for a little while trying to get the gravel back in the driveway area.  It's impossible to plow the snow and not scoop up gravel in the process.  We will be working on this for awhile but we got it started.

Jim worked on making a jig for some of the vent work that will be coming up...

Still no inspector so Jim decided to start trimming the bathroom ceiling.

And since we were still waiting, he went ahead and got started painting the ceiling.

Finishing up the ceiling.  Jim wants to put two coats on this ceiling just because it sees so much humidity so it was good to get the first coat done. 

At this point, it was after 4:30 and we had given up on the inspector showing up today.  After cleaning up, Jim decided to spend the rest of his time getting the Bobcat out and doing a little driveway cleanup after the winter.

Jim will call the inspector tomorrow morning.  You have to be very delicate - you definitely don't want an inspector showing up not in a good mood!

High 69/Low 51 - gorgeous!